II. Persecution-64-313 AD

The first Imperial Persecution-64 AD

Nero blames the Christians for burning Rome 64 AD. Christians are
used as torches to light Nero's garden. I believe this is the beginning
of the Tribulation period of seven years with the climax at the Destruction
of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The name "Nero Caesar" adds up to
666 in Hebrew (see Biblecodes).
"The blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church." Christians
were forced to live in the catacombs
of Rome.

III. Political Union of Church & State 313-476
AD

Constantine issues the edict of Milan in 313 AD.
The persecution stops. Constantine becomes head of the Church. In 323
AD becomes sole emperor, and moves the capitol to Constantinople, now
modern day Istanbul.

IV. Pope's Power and Prosperity 476- 1517 AD.

Pope's rise to power to fill the vaccum of the fall of Rome. Kings must
get there approval from the Pope. Gregory the Great.

Rise of Islam. Mohammed born in 570 AD retires to a cave where supposedly
the angel Gabriel commanded him to be the true Prophet of Allah. He was
driven from Mecca. He Fled to Medina where he raised an army and conquered
Mecca. They conquered Arabia, North Africa, Palestine, Persia, and Asia
Minor. Their main belief is "There is but one God, Allah, and Mohammed
is his prophet." After Mohammed's death his teachings where complied
into a book called the "Koran." His successors are called "Calph"
meaning "successor."

Rise of the Holy Roman Empire under Charlemagne 800 AD

Seven Major Crusades to take back the Holy Land.

New Monastic Orders-reform

Cistercians - Bernard of Clairvaux

Francis of Assisi

Dominicans - Thomas Aquinas- Summa Theologica Man is dead
spiritually, but his reason is not like Aristole.

Pre-reformation Leaders

Peter Waldo and his followers the "Waldensians." 1175
AD

William of Ockham 1290-1349 AD. He called for reform in the Roman
Catholic Church. He rejected Papal authority. He was a skilled writer.
Today we still use the principle named after him "Ockham's razor"
which is the fewer or simplier the assumptions the better.

John Wycliff born in England in 1324 AD. Translated the Latin Bible
into English in 1388 AD. He imposed the Pope in paying taxes and in
doctrine. He is called "the Morning Star of the Reformation."

John Hus followed much of Wycliff. At the Council of Constance he
was condemned and then he was burned at the stake in 1415 AD. Peter
of Prauge was also burned at the stake.

Savonarola (1452-98) was an Italian preacher of reform who denounced
the Pope, was excommunicated, and then executed.

The Renaissance renewed interest in Classical Studies, and therefore
the study of the New Testament in the orginal Greek. Erasmus prepared
a Greek edition of the NT which is the basis for the textus receptus.

The invention of the printing press in 1455 by Gutenberg. The first
book printed was the Bible. The printing press was key to the spread of
the Reformation.

V. Protestant Reformation- 1517 AD

Martin Luther was born in Germany on 1483 AD.

On October 31, 1517 Luther nail his 95 theses to the of the Wittenberg
Church. For more information about Martin
Luther.

Pope's Bull of Excommunication. Luther burns the Bull. (Bull a offical
leter from the Pope). 1521.

Martin Luther does not recant at the Diet of Worms 1521. (Worms
is a city in Germany). Luther declares, " I can not will not
recanr, for it is neither safe nor right to act against one's conscience-Here
I stand, I can not do otherwise. God help me! Amen."
Luther is taken away to Warburg Castle where he translates the New
Testament into the German language. Luther returns to Wittenberg to
lead the reformation. Followers of Luther are called "Lutherans."

The Puritans wanted to reform the Church of England.
John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress published in 1678.
He also penned Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666)
and The Holy War (1682). See Acacia
John Bunyan Online Library.

The Separatists separated from the church.
The Pilgrims come to America 1620.

The Geneva Bible 1560 which became very popular with its Calvinistic
notes.

The Bishop's Bible 1568

The Rheims-Douay Bible from Latin (Catholic version) 1582, 1610

The King James Bible 1611. This was requested by the Puritans, but
the Geneva Bible remained more popular for another 50 years. For KJV
only web page.

The Counter Reformation by the Catholic Church

The Inquisition - torture and death for those who did not submit
to the church. The first real inquisition was suggested by Pope Alexander
III 1162 AD. At the Third Lateran Council of 1179 he called for a
crusade against the Cathars of France.

The most imfamous is the Spanish Inquisition. There were early
ones, but not until 1480 did Ferdinand and Isabella make the Spanish
Inquisition a royal instrument with its center at Madrid. They
are the same ones that backed Columbus' expedition in 1942.

The Roman Inquisition began in 1542 which was contolled by the
Papacy.

In France the Huguenots were persecuted. When Catherine of Medici
came to the throne she plotted to destroy them. On Sunday night
August 23, 1572 there was the massacre of 30,000 Huguenots on
St. Bartholomew's Day and more in the days that followed. Many
fled France.

Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits in
1540. Their first and greatest missionary was Francis Xavier (1502-52)
who worked in India, Indonesia, and Japan.

The Council of Trent called by Pope Paul III. It met for three sessions:
1545-47, 1551-52, and 1562-63. In 1564 the Tridentine Index was published
which listed the books Catholics were forbidden to read which was
kept until 1966.

Henry VIII became the "Defender of the Faith" against
Martin Luther, but when the Pope delayed in granting a divorce, he
split with Rome. Cardinal Wolsey in a great public display in London
had all the books of Luther burned. King Henry got parliament to pass
the "Bloody Act" that made Protestantism illegal and punishable
by death. When Mary the daughter of Henry and Catherine ascended the
throne she tried to return England to Catholicism. The Bloody Act
was enforced resulting in many Protestant leaders being cast
into prison, and over 900 of them were burned at the stake including
Thomas Cranmer, Bishop Latimer, Ridley, and Hooper. Historians call
her "Bloody Mary."

The Thirty Years War between Protestants and Catholics 1618-1648.
Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Pope Innocent X renounced the treaty
in 1651, but the Catholic armies were too exhausted to continue fighting.

Miller claimed that Christ would return in 1844 then again in
1845. There was great disillusion when Christ did not return.

Ellen White said that Christ did come, but into the Holy Sanctuary.
Christ could not return to earth because they had not kept the
Sabbath. Church must be on Saturday. Her wrtitings become the
basis of their doctines. In recent years some have emphasized
the Bible over her wriitngs.

Mormons or The Church of the Latter-Day Saints

Joseph Smith born in 1805. In 1820 he sees his first vision.
His second vision is in 1823. The angel Moroni comes to him and
tells him where there is a book with gold plates. The Book of
Mormon is supposedly a translation of these gold plates that tell
about the Indians in America who are said to be the 10 lost tribes
of Israel, and how Christ appeared to them after his resurrection.
There is no archaeological evidence for this.

Brigham Young took over after Joseph Smith was killed by an
angry mob of 200 people who stormed the jail in Carthage, Illinios
in 1844. Young led the rest of Smith's followers across the country
where they arrived in Salt Lake City in 1847.

Jehovah's Witnesses

Charles Russell - 1879 founded the Zion's Watchtower
magazine. Jesus to return in 1914. He did not so they say Jesus
returned in secret and invisible.

Joseph Rutherford - 1916 becomes president of the Watchtower
Society. He claims Jesus will return in 1922, 23.